How to have an actual chance of getting your MacBook back if you lose it

One of the handiest features of iCloud is Find my iPhone; if you lose track of it you can easily see its position on a map if its connected to the Internet. Chances are that you left the cellular connection on, so as long as there is signal and turned on you can see where it is. Lock it, emit a sound and remotely erase its data.

While it works for basically every Apple device configured with iCloud, retrieve a lost MacBook is trickier. You can only connect it through WiFi, and if its password locked there is no way someone can connect it to the web. One can try through LAN cable, but since 2012 Retina MacBook Pro no Apple laptop ever had a LAN port anymore. Additionally there’s no way to identify the owner, and everybody is pretty much free to factory restore it.

What we’re going to do here isn’t anything that has to do with black magic or adding a GPS module inside it to track the Mac even in Siberia or other remote lands: we’re adding a way to let somebody know whose Mac it is if retrieved without the need of unlocking it.

While it’s password locked in the login screen there’s not much to see except a blurred background, your account name and a password field along with some buttons. However, we can display a customized static line of text in that screen just by using System Preferences. Open it up from the Apple dropdown menu in the top left corner, and go to Security & Privacy.

If locked, make sure to unlock the panel by clicking on the lock in the bottom by entering an Administrator account password. You should see a button named “Set Lock Message…”, click it and enter something like “If retrieved, please contact…” and enter your number, or email or any other way to get in touch with you. Eventually you’ll find someone who’s kind enough to help you get your computer back. One can hope in a good act of civility.